Atomizing apparatus



1945- M. E. CALLANDER 2,387,118

ATOMI Z ING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 20, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR: MARSHALL E. CALLANDER' BY MM WIS ATTORNEYS.

INVENTOR: MARSHALLEOQLLANDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IS ATTORNEYS.

' M. E. CALLANDER ATOMI Z ING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 20, 1943 Patented Oct. 16, 1945 PATENT OFFICE ATOMI'ZING APPARATUS Marshall E. Callander, Columbia, Mo.

Application January 20, 1943, Serial No. 473,044

15 Claims.

This invention pertains to atomizing apparatus which is applicable to various purposes. Two specific applications will be described herein One of these is the atomization of liquid fuel for oil burners and the like, and the other is to the manufacture of mineral wool and the like by the method in which a blast of air, steam or other suitable fluid is directed against a stream of mo]- ten material.

By this method as ordinarily practiced a stream of molten material, such as rock, slag, glass, etc., is permitted to fall from an outlet of a suitable cupola or furnace in which the material is melted. As the stream of molten material drops from the outlet of the furnace, a blast is directed against it transversely. Ordinarily steam is employed for forming such a blast, although air and other fluids have been used. When properly directed and controlled, the blast breaks up and disintegrates the molten material and forcibly projects it in the direction of the blast. As a result of this treatment, the material is not only broken up into small particles but is "spun into fine fibers which, collectively, are known as mineral wool."

The quality of the wool formed depends, to a considerable extent, upon the typ or blast employed, and nozzles of various designs adapted to form the blast in diflerent ways have been tried and used. One of the difficulties heretofore encountered has been theformation of substantial quantities of "shot" which are bodies of the molten material which seemed not to ilberize and hence solidified in globular form. Another difli culty has beenv the tendency of the molten mineral material to form encrustations upon the nozzle with the result that periodically when such encrustations have grown to substantial size they break oil and are-projected along with the blast. Consequently the resultant mineral wool is confrequently impossible to remove.

In my prior patent, No. 2,076,445, I disclosed a nozzle in which the Jet passages are arranged generally according to the configuration of the arabic numeral 6. The nozzle there disclosed, however, represented only a partial solution to the problem. While the production of shot was thereby decreased, such a nozzle shows a tendency to become encrusted particularly at the lower portions thereof with a result that the mineral wool is frequently contaminated with "slugs." The nozzle disclosed in said patent, however, presented a diflicult manufacturing problem and required to be drilled by an expert, generally the manufacture of mineral wool.

inventor himself. This dimculty was due to the inclination of the orifices'in two directions which,

directions may be economically and readily manfactured; and to provide a-method of manufacturing such a nozzle. I

Another object is to provide such a nozzle which will minimize the production of shot and slugs.

16 A further object is to provide a nozzle adapted to form a blast having a swirl or vertical action. Further objects will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the relation of the nozzle of the present invention to a cupola or other furnace employed in the manufacture of mineral wool. I

Figure 2 is an end view of a nozzle embodying 28 this invention.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3- -3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged side view illustrating the formation of the blast in accordance with this invention.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view similar to Figure 1 but illustrating the application to oil-burners.

Figure 6 is a view, somewhat diagrammatical cording to the present invention.

Figures 7 and 8 are sectional views somewhat similar to Figure 3, showing modified forms of the nozzle tip.

The present invention contemplates the protaminated with such shot and sings which it is vision of a nozzle arranged to project a blast consisting of aseries of individual jets against a falling stream of material to be atomized, such as molten rock, slag or glass, in the case of the In accordance with the present invention, the series of jets which, together form the blast, are arranged so as to impart to the particles of material operated upon, a swirling movement in addition to pro- ,Iection in the general direction of the entire blast the series of jet passages arranged in a generally circular pattern, the center of which will herein be referred to as the axis of the nozzle it being understood, however, that such nozzle axis need not be concentric with the physical structure of the nozzle member itself. These individual jet passages have their inclinations varying progressively away from normal to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the nozzle which, in the case of a flat face nozzle, will mean that the individual jet openings are inclined progressively away from perpendicular to the nozzle face as will be hereinafter more fully described. The direction of the individual jet openings may vary in either the angle made with a plane perpendicular to the nozzle axis or in the angle made with a plane which includes a parallel with the nozzle axis; the former will be referred to herein as "inclination," the latter as azimuth! The jet openings are formed as bore holes in the end wall of the nozzle. These bore holes are small cylinders whose axes lie in the arc of a circle, but the axes of these cylinders do not constitute elements of a cone because they are so directed as to avoid intersection in space. In other words, the axes of the bore holes, as projected in space, are tan ent to a virtual cylinder of smaller radius than the arcuate pattern of Jet openings in the face of the nozzle.

Referring to the drawings, a cupola C having a spout D is provided for melting the materialwhich when properly fluid is permitted to flow out of the spout D in a stream indicated at J.

of the nozzle. On the down-sweep of the pattern of openings, the azimuths of a few, for instance 2, 3 and I as shown in the drawings, are substantially parallel and make an angle of not over and preferably about 10, to the horizontal indicated as line WE in Figure 2. These azimuths may be inscribed on the face of the nozzle.

To locate the azimuths of let openings 5 to l8 inclusive, another circle K is inscribed upon the face of the nozzle. In the embodiment illustrated, the circle K is of smaller radius than the circle I and is eccentric with circle I, its center being located in the quadrant diagonally opposite the quadrant at which the stream of material J, to be atomized enters. The degree of eccentricity of the circle K with the circle I may be from a sixteenth to half the radius of the circle I.

The diameter of the circle K will affect the the head on a work table which is adjustable.

to various angles with the horizontal and drilla ing vertically as shown diagrammatically in Fis- The nozzle comprises a blast tube F connected The head G has an end wall H, and this wall is perforated with a series of holes passing therethrough. each of which provides a passage for a jet of the pressure fluid wh ch in the present illustration will be assumed to be steam. These jet passages have their exit openings from they outer face of the wall H arranged in a pattern as shown in Figure 2. in which these openings are numbered l-ll inclusive.

ure 6. Such a work table may be provided with a bottom plate P which may rest upon a support Q of a drill press or other suitable apparatus. An angle plate R is mounted upon plate P by suitable hinging means (not shown) and is adjustable angularly to vary the angle a between the plates R and P. The head G will be rotatably supported in any suitable manner upon plate R so that, by adjusting the angle a, the nozzle axis A'is adjusted to the same angle with the vertical and therefore with the axis of a vertical drill Consequently, adiustment of the plate R at a i'glven' angle a, positions the face of the nozzle at In laying out the nozzle according to the presand other conditions and operations understood bythose skilled in the art but, for the purpose of this disclosure, may be understood to be as on the order of one-half inch. The circle I provides the general pattern of arrangement of a plurality of jet openings I to It, all of which except opening I, lie on. or substantially on, circle preferablv directly above opening 2. It will be understood that, in view of the variation in direction of the respective openings 1 to I8, inclusive, only the exterior mouths of these openings will lie on. or substantially on, circle I. In case the faceof the nozzle is not flat, or substantially flat, the exterior mouths of, these openings may not actually lie in a circle but. if projected to some imaginary plane, would lie in a circle.

After therespective jet openings I to It inclusive have been located on the face of the nozzle. their respective azimuths must be determined and indicated. In the case of opening i, the di- 'I while opening I is disposed outside circle I and the same angle out of normal with the drill 'I.

The rotary setting of the head G may be guided by a scale U on the plate R.

With this arrangement of parts and with the plate R adjusted for a given inclination of any of the openings in the wall H oi the nozzle, the azimuth lines may be aligned with the drill T by sight. Such alignment of the respective azimuth lines with the drill T will require, not only rotation of the head G relative to plate R, but will require relative translation thereof, as by sliding the plate P between guide rails V.

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the inclination of let openings l to 5 inclusive progressively increases away from normal to a plane perpendicular to the axis A: the

' departure of opening I from such normal be ng 0, that of opening 2 being 5, that of opening I being 10', that of opening I being 15, and that of opening 5 being 18". In the embodiment illustrated. however, the inclination of open ngs I to I inclusive is the same, namely, 18. These are the angles a which determinethe adjustment of plate R relative to plate P in drilling the respective holes.

With a nozzle drilled as just described, it will be observed that the axes of the respective holes I to I 6 inclusive-vary progressively in direction but in such manner that such axes, when prorection is substantially perpendicular to the face 7 lected in spaceildo mt intersect- In the case 01 aforesaid patent.

openings 5 to I 8 inclusive, planes including the individual axes (of the respective holes) and a" parallel to axis A are respectively tangent with an imaginary cylinder whose trace on the face whole, as formed by these jets, is an elongated swirl having a constricted waist as indicated in Figure 4 and therebeyond flaring outwardly in the form of a generally tubular blast.

The jet openings 5 to it, inclusive, are suinciently close together to give continuity to the swirl. In the embodiment shown, openings to it, inclusive, occupy substantially 180 01 the pattern, so that the openings are considerably less than a half radian apart.

It is important to so position opening I! and circle K that the azimuth of opening it is directed below opening i unless auxiliary provision is made for preventing upward escape of the swirling particles in the blast.

The number and displacement of openings will depend, as indicated hereinabove, upon the capacity of the nozzle it being important that the openings, whose azimuths are tangent to the inner portion therebeyond.

While the illustrated embodiment has been described with particularity, many variations in structure and arrangement are permissible without departure from the spirit of the invention. The number of jet passages may be varied. This may frequently be desirable when the size of the nozzle itself is changed. For instance, twelve Jet passages may be used on a small size nozzle with circle K, extend throughout the quadrant (southeast in the embodiment illustrated) diagonallyopposite the quadrant at which the material to be atomized enters (northwest in the embodiment illustrated) and also extend into the quadrants belowthe entrance quadrant and laterally of the entrance quadrant.

It is desirable that the openings, whose azimuths are tangent to circle K, embrace at least 180 of the pattern of openings. the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the openings ii to I6,inclusive, whose azimuths are tangent to the circle K, occupy more vthan 180 of the circle I and their points 0! tangence with the circle K embrace more than 180 of. the latter. Such an arrangement assures that the swirl will re-enter itself.

It is contemplated that auxiliary jet openings may, when and if desired, be used in addition to the pattern of openings herein described.

The nozzle herein disclosed is of high capacity per volume of blast fluid and its operation is characterized by a high yield of spun material so that contamination of the mineral wool by shot or slugs is markedly reduced over that heretoiore attainable as by the nozzle disclosed in my Reduction in the yield 0! slugs For example, in

good eflect. Obviously the arrangement can be reversed so that molten material enters at the northeast quadrant instead of the northwest quadrant as illustrated, with the result that the action and gives the material an increased outward velocity from the nozzle as it passes through-It the waist portion of the blast and into the flared material will be swirled in a clockwise rather than a counterclockwise direction as illustrated. v This is sometimes of advantage where several blasts are used simultaneously to distribute the material into the same receiving space as the blast sometimes tends to take a direction slightly angu-. lar to the axis of the nozzle and this can be corrected to some extent by using nozzles producing opposite swirls.

In applying this invention to oil-burners, an

arrangement such as illustrated in Figure 5 may be used. In this figure, the blast tube F is connected to a blower L or other suitable source of pressure fluid such as air. In this case also, steam or other suitable'iluid may be employed under proper circumstances. A fuel supply pipe M connected to any suitable source of supply is connected to a spout or nozzle 0 by which the is maintained these elements may have any deis believed to be attributable to the absence, in

the nozzle of this invention, of any individual Jet directed downwardly at a substantial angle which would tend to project the falling molten material downwardly. On the contrary, in the nozzle of the present invention, the jets, which first iminge themolten material, are directed so that their lateral force components are far in excess of their downward force components.

The reduction in the yield of shot over that attained with nozzles of my prior patentmay be sired position, that is, the nozzle 0 may project its stream horizontally or in any other direction,

under suitable pressure in the supply pipe M, in

In this case also the relation of the openings I is such that the blast is formed by a succession of narrow ietsarranged progressively in an orderly progression as already described, such progression being downwardly in Figure 2 and in Figure 5 in a direction transverse to the direction of the blast as a whole. fuel is then projected into the blast in adirection which is initially along this direction of progression of the jets oi. the blast. Accordingly, the fuel is struck by these jets in succession and an action similar to that described for mineral wool takes place except that, since the fuel liquid is The stream of liquid usually of less viscosity than themolten material from which mineral wool is made, the result oi. impact is probably more of a shattering eilect which breaks up the fuel into extremely minute particles which apparently vaporize at once.

It has been found that in operating with some types of material which have a high melting point, the heat of the material in the stream J seems to heat up the nozzle tip to an excessive temperature. In some instances the material may show a. tendency to adhere to the face of the nozzle where it collects to form slugs which may later be expelled and included in the fiberized material. Furthermore, the excessive heat tends to deteriorate the nozzle itself, which may become burnt at a point adjacent to the jet passages. In such situations it is advantageous to form the nozzle tip as shown in Figures 7 and 8. In these figures the middle portion of the end wall H of the nozzle is thickened. Its thickness at this point may be several times that of a nozzle such as shown in Figure 3. At the same time, the outer face of the tip is made convex as by rounding it as shown in Figures 7 and 8. In Figure 7 the inner face of the end wall H is square with the axis, while in Figure 8 this inner face is rounded to conform generally to the outer face.

Nozzle tips such as shown in Figures 7 and 8 are comparatively free from the trouble of adhesion of the material thereto and show less tendency to become burnt. This is probably due to the fact that the jet passages have a longer travel through the thickened portions of the nozzle, and the gas passing therethrough is effective in cooling the nozzle so as to prevent excessive temperatures. At the same time, the convex outer surface promotes a movement of the surrounding air over that surface and toward the issuing jets, and this moving air apparently also has a cooling efiect which prevents an excessive temperature rise in the nozzle tip.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to the manufacture of minsages cooperate to form collectively a tubular blast, substantially as described, the exterior mouths of said J'et passages being located inwardly of the interior mouths thereof.

4. A nozzle of the character described, comprising, a blast-tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of jet passages therethrough arranged in a substantially circular are around the nozzle axis and having progressively varying direction such that the jets issuing from said passages cooperate to form collectively a tubular blast flaring outwardly, the exterior mouths of said jet passages being located inwardly of the interior mouths thereof.

5. A nozzle for making mineral wool and the like, comprising, a blast-tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series oi! jet passages therethrough arranged with their exit openings in a curve starting at one side of the nozzle axis and extending downwardly, then laterally toward the opposite side and finally upwardly on the opposite side of said axis, said passages on the downward part of said curve having their individual axes inclined to a plane normal to the nozzle axis at progressively decreasing angles (in a plane including the respective individual axis and a parallel to the nozzle axis), and

eral wool and for the atomization of fuel oil, it

is apparent that the nozzle may be applied otherwise. Since it is obvious that various changes may be made in the details of construction and that the nozzle may be supplemented without interfering with the advantageous action herein described, it is to be distinctly understood that such modifications and additions as to not depart from the spirit of this invention are, although not spacifica'lly described herein, contemplated by and sect, the exterior mouths of said jet passages being located inwardly of the interior mouths thereof.

2. An atomizing nozzle of the character de-' scribed, comprising, a blast-tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of jet passages therethrough arranged in a substantially circular are around the nozzle axis and having progressively varying directions such that the jets issuing from said passages cooperate to form collectively a waist, substantially as described.

3. An atomizing nozzle of the character described, comprising, a blast-tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of Jet passages therethrough arranged in a substantially circular are around the nozzle axis and having progressively varying directions such that the jets issuing from said pasthose passages on the upward portion of said curve having their individual axes directed at uniform inclinations but at progressively varying azi- -muths.

6. A nozzle for making mineral wool and the like, comprising, a blast-tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of jet passages therethrough arranged with their exit openings in a curve starting at one side of the nozzle axis and extending downwardly, then laterally toward the opposite side and finally upwardly on the opposite side of said axis, said passages on the downward part of said curve having their individual axes inclined to a plane normal to the nozzle axis at progressively increasing angles, and those passages on the bottom portion of said curve having their individual axes directed at uniform inclinations but at progressively varying azimuths.

'7. A nozzle for making mineral wool and the like, comprising, a blast-tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of jet passages therethrough arranged with their exit openings substantially in a circular are concentric with and below said axis and having their individual axes inclined with respect to a plane normal to said nozzle axis and directed so as to be tangent to a cylindrical surface, which is eccentric downwardly and laterally with respect to said nozzle axis.

8. A nozzle for making mineral wool and the like, comprising, a blast-tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of jet passages therethrough arranged with their exit openings substantially in a, circular arc concentric with and below said axis and having their individual axes inclined with respect to a plane normal to said nozzle axis and directed so as to be tangent to a cylindrical surface of smaller radius than said are and which is eccentric downwardly and laterally with respect to said nozzle axis.

9. An atomizing nozzle of the character described comprising, a blast tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of jet passages therethrough arranged in a substantially circular are around the nozzle axis and having progressively different directions, none of said passages being directed downwardly at an azimuth greater than 30 to the horizontal.

10. An atomizing nozzle of the character described comprising, a blast tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of jet passages therethrough arranged in a substantially circular are around the nozzle axis and having progressively different directions, the azimuth of a passage circumferentially remote from the entrance space being directed below at least one opposite jet.

11. An atomizing nozzle of the character described comprising, a blast tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a series of jet passages therethrough arranged in a substantially circular are around said nozzle axis and having the azimuths of their individual axes progressively varying, said series of let passages embracing at least 180 and so oriented that some of said jet passages are in the quadrants vertically below, laterally opposite and diagonally opposite the quadrant at which the material to be atomized enters.

12. A nozzle for making mineral wool and the like, comprising, a'blast-tube head having an end wall transverse to the nozzle axis, said wall having a. series of jet passages therethrough arranged with their exit openings substantially in a circular arc concentric with and below said axis and having their individual axes inclined with respect to a plane normal to said nozzle axis and directed 13. A nozzle comprising a member having a series of bore holes therein whose axes are tangent to a virtual cylinder, said bore holes being spaced substantially uniformly less than a half radiant apart, throughout more than of a substantially circular arc, said virtual cylinder being of smaller radius than said circular arc.

14. A nozzle comprising a member having a series of bore holes therein whose axes are tangent to a virtual cylinder substantially within the pattern of bore holes, said axes being non-parallel but non-intersecting in space, the points of tangence of said axes being in elements of said cylinder spaced less than a half radian apart throughout more than 180 thereof. I

15. A nozzle comprisinga member having a series of bore holes therein whose axes are tangent to a virtual cylinder substantially within the pattern of bore holes, said axes being non-parallel but non-intersecting in space, the points of tangence of said axes being in elements of said cylinder spaced less than a half radian apart throughout more than 180 thereof, the exterior mouths of said series of holes forming an 1111- closed curved pattern in the end face of the member, and means for introducing material to be atomized at the unclosed region of said pattern.

MARSHALL E. CAILANDER. 

